Conventional automotive passenger restraint systems, as utilized in passenger automobiles intended for the U.S. market, consist of at least a lap-belt assembly which is releasibly attached at one side to a latching means. More commonly, such systems include a combined lap and shoulder belt combination in which the shoulder belt extends at an angle from a lower attachment point near the floor of the vehicle to an upper attachment point above the passenger's shoulder, usually on a door pillar.
Such conventional passenger restraint systems are adequate for large children and adults, but often do not fit a small and immature wearer, particularly one who is active and tempted to play with or unfasten the attachments in an attempt to move about the vehicle while it is moving.
For very young children, infant "car seats" have been manufactured and sold which usually consist of a hollow seat shell in the shape of a small enclosure, usually padded, which is designed to be placed on the vehicle seat and secured to the vehicle's existing lap-belt system. Such infant seats are characterized by a horizontal restraining strap or bar across the chest, together with one or more shoulder straps and a crotch strap extending between the restraining bar and the lower portion of the seat shell. Such infant seats are adequate for a small child of up to about three years and about 50 pounds (18.2 kg) but an older and larger child often finds such a seat too confining and uncomfortable.
Larger child seats have also been marketed which are in effect a small high chair intended to be placed on top of the vehicle seat and secured thereto by the seat belt. These seats are conventionally formed of steel tubing and also incorporate a horizontal restraining bar and crotch strap. The child sits higher, but the vehicle's lap belt must reach up and around the child at a substantial angle to the horizontal. This can expose the occupant to even greater danger because of the seat and occupant can be propelled a considerable distance before reaching the limit of forward movement.
While this high-chair type of seat raises the child's seating position to where he can see out vehicle's windows, many children will still dislike the stigma of being made to sit in what is obviously a child's seat, and will be restless and unmanageable.
Further, the prior art seats described above are characteristically heavy and bulky, and difficult to pack conveniently into a small space when not being used.